Poll: Hillary Clinton Now Less Popular Than Trump

New polling indicates that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's popularity has taken a hit in the months after the 2016 election. She now has a lower favorability rating than President Donald Trump.

On March 8, a poll conducted by Suffolk University found that 35 percent of registered voters view Clinton favorably while 55 percent have an unfavorable view of her, amounting to a net negative 20 points, The Washington Post reports.

Meanwhile, 45 percent of respondents held a favorable view of Trump while 47 percent view him unfavorably. This gives a net negative 2 points.

The new polling marks the first time Trump has a significantly higher favorability rating than Clinton.

Aggregating the last 11 national polls released in the final week leading up to the 2016 election, Real Clear Politics found that Clinton had an average favorability of 41.8 percent with an average 54.4 percent favorability rating. Meanwhile, an average 37.5 percent viewed Trump favorably while an average 58.5 percent viewed him unfavorably.

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Near the end of the election, Suffolk University had found that 46 percent of respondents viewed Clinton favorably while 47 percent viewed her unfavorably. Only four months later, the same polling group has found her net negative favorability to have grown by 19 points.

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Breaking down the data, much of the slump for Clinton's favorability is due to flagging enthusiasm among Democrats and independents. In October 2016, Suffolk University found that 88 percent of Democrats and 32 percent of independents viewed Clinton favorably. In the latest poll, only 74 percent of Democrats and 25 percent of independents feel the same way.

National political correspondent Karen Tumulty believes that a growing number of Democrats view Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, as liabilities for their party going forward.

"In some ways, people see them as a roadblock," Tumulty told CBS News. "A lot of Democrats would like to see the Clintons move aside and give some oxygen for some new voices to emerge."

The new polling arrives just as Clinton is returning to the national stage. On March 7, she accepted an award from the nonprofit Girls Inc. during a luncheon in New York. The next day, she was slated to speak at the Vital Voices ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

"I've had my ups and my downs in the last months," Clinton said while accepting her award in New York. "I've done my share of sleeping, a little soul-searching and reflecting, long walks in the woods."

The former senator urged young women to seek political office, according to Politico.

"Let us hope there is a wave of young women running for office in America," Clinton said. "And let's be sure we support them in every way we can. Let's help them shatter stereotypes and lift each other up."